The Aubrey Chaparrals varsity football team received their third loss of the season, falling to Sanger 37-21 on the road Sept. 11.
The Chaps held a slim lead early in the bout, but Sanger leaned on its run game to wear Aubrey’s defense down and pile up almost 400 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns.
“We obviously didn’t play consistently enough, making too many mistakes, penalties and turnovers—the same things that have haunted us the last two weeks,” said Keith Ivy, Aubrey athletic director and head football coach. “Sanger is a good football team, and when you play good teams like this, you have to play a cleaner game overall, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
Sanger found the end zone first, with a 58-yard touchdown run by running back Christian Bush, taking a 6-0 lead after a missed extra point attempt.
Aubrey quarterback Connor Murphy and receiver Will Storey helped the Chaps answer when the duo connected for a 74-yard bomb that put Aubrey in front 7-6.
The Chaps held onto their 1-point lead as the game entered the second quarter, but that’s when Sanger’s run game took off with back-to-back touchdowns by running back Bola Ogunwuyi and quarterback Austin Martin.
The two scores put Sanger up 20-7 at the half.
Sanger continued to pound Aubrey with its run game in the third quarter, with Ogunwuyi rumbling to the end zone from 68 yards out and giving Sanger a 20-point lead.
Sanger would add a 31-yard field goal near the end of the third quarter to extend its lead to 30-7.
Aubrey would score twice in the fourth quarter, with Murphy finding running back Corbin Frazier for a 19-yard touchdown pass and calling his own number for a 3-yard touchdown run, but Ogunwuyi scored his third rushing score on the night, sealing the 3721 win for Sanger.
“We stalled out offensively for a few series, and on defense we weren’t able to get off the field,” Ivy said. “Our defense was probably on the field for 75% of the first half. They kept moving the ball, and we couldn’t get a stop.”
Murphy finished the night completing 13 of 24 passes for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns, with Storey recording 4 catches for 93 yards and 1 touchdown, and running back Marcus Julu leading the ground game with 11 carries for 63 yards.
The Chaps have a week off before starting district play on the road against Castleberry on Sept. 25, and Ivy said the team will use the time off to make sure they are as prepared as possible.
“I was proud of our effort in the second half; we came out and showed some heart, but we have to be a better version of ourselves and clean these mistakes up,” he said. “Everybody is 0-0 going into district, and we need to use the next two weeks to regroup and get better at being more consistent, more disciplined and all the little things.”
